Wherever You Are
by Alannaflower
Summary: This is the basic spoof off the dramatic book Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. Very good, most of my friends admit.


Wherever You Are  
  
Chapter One  
  
"Its called "Wherever You Are," I told my best friend Louise as I strummed a chord on my guitar.   
  
"I composed it when my dad walked out on us." Louise just nodded. I started playing the guitar, and the familiar melody filled my head. A melancholic, yet at the same time happy, beat. Louise started beating her drums with her drumsticks to get the beat going.   
  
Louise has been my best friend since I can remember. I met her in a car garage when my mother was flirting with a guy trying to fix our car, after we had got in a fender-bender. Of course, Louise was sitting in the waiting room, because apparently, her mother had the same idea as mine did.   
  
I got the conversation started by asking her why she was there with her mom. She said she was in a car with her older brother. He was drunk and crashed into a parking meter (apparently he was incredibly drunk; parking meters are on the sidewalk!) and they towed the totaled car away.   
  
I found out Louise lived next door, so I went over to comfort her, because her brother had been taken to jail. She cried on my shoulder as I handed her tissues. She told me that her brother James had also had brushes with the law that dealt with drugs. She didn't know what drugs were at the point in time, since we were 10, but I still wanted to help her. The poor girl needed help badly. That's when I invited her to come over to my house.   
  
"Why did your dad walk out on you guys anyways?" Louise asked as I stopped playing the song.   
  
"I'm not so sure. My mom said that he hated living in a big house, and he hated to be attached to people, so he just left for work one day and never came back. Its one of those things you wish you could change." I started plucking the strings on my guitar again.   
  
"Oh well," sighed Louise. "I only wish I could help some."   
  
"Get your guitar. I'll teach you the song. That'll help....I hope."  
  
When Louise came over to my house for the first time, she noticed I had no father.   
  
"Where's your dad?" she asked curiously, and she peered over my shoulder, as if he'd magically appear behind me.   
  
"I'll say later. Want to go up to my room?" When you're 10 years old, your room is a prized possession, but right now it is a haven. When you're ten, all you want to do is compete to see who has the best room. I always won those competitions, it being decorated with fairies and unicorns.   
  
"These are my two guitars, but this one is my favorite." I pointed to a guitar with a fairy etched on the side into the warm wood. "It was the last gift I got from my dad."  
  
"Do you use the other one?" Louise wondered.   
  
"Oh, no. Do you want to keep it? I'll teach you to play."  
  
"Sure," was the only gurgled response coming from her high-pitched voice.  
  
I showed Louise the very last chord of the song. You see, my guitar has been like my therapist since my dad left. I use it daily, and I have made 5 songs for him so far, but I only like the first one, Wherever You Are.   
  
I haven't had much faith in boys since my dad walked out. The best way to ruin a relationship with someone is to actually have a relationship with him or her. At least that's what I think. Men are unfaithful. And that's all there is to it.   
  
"Honey, can you go get some groceries for me???" My mother yelled down the hall to me.   
  
I got out a pad of paper and a pen. "Sure, mom, what do you need?" When she was done, I grabbed my keys, and walked through the blue door. Our door is blue because we like the peace and calm in a house. Thats what blue stand for, don't you know?  
  
I started up the white Ford Taurus, with the Illinois license plate on the back on front. A picture of my mother and me was glued on the dashboard, near the passenger window. Every time I hop in the car, I kiss the frame lightly, to bless both of us.   
  
I drove down Newport Lane, where I lived. 1152 Newport Lane. Too bad Dad can't remember that simple address. The nearest grocery store is Wal-Mart, which is 7 blocks away. No problem.   
  
In the Wal-Mart parking lot, I saw the windows of the doors were decorated with pilgrims and turkeys. Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away. The only Thanksgiving-like food on my list was cranberry juice. Just great. Liquid that prevents UTIs, and just in time for the Holiday Season!  
  
I found the glazed donuts, the 3 loaves of bread, 4 gallons of milk, Cap'N Crunch cereal, window cleaner, Big Red gum, cat food for my kitten Gus, and turkey lunchmeat. The only thing left was cranberry juice.   
  
I headed for the juice aisle. As I turned the corner, I realized our brand of juice was on the top shelf! I'm only 5-foot, 7 inches, so I can't reach the almost 8-foot tall shelf!  
  
A guy my age, with a nametag saying, "WAL-MART: Dan," on it asked, "Do you need some help?" I looked up. A great-looking guy was staring me right in the face! He had dark brown hair, white teeth, brown eyes that SPARKLED, pinkish colored lips, and tan skin. Like he just came from the beach or something. He wore a Good Charlotte tee under his Wal-Mart smock.  
  
"Sure," I said, eyeing him. "I need Northland's Cranberry Raspberry juice."  
  
He surprised me by saying, "I know." He got an Employee Only ladder and got my juice. He smiled at me and said, "By the way, I'm Dan."  
  
I smiled back and said, "I know."  
  
I rounded up my cart and pulled to the checkout aisle. I think Dan might like me. But I remembered my never-ending mantra: The best way to ruin a relationship with Dan would be to have a relationship with him.   
  
Chapter Two  
  
In the car, I hugged the cranberry juice bottle. But I quickly shrugged it off, knowing that Dan probably didn't really like me. I revved the car's engine and drove away from Wal-Mart and Dan.  
  
Louise came in through the door five minutes after I got back. I was doing the dishes.   
  
"Jenny, are you here?" she asked. I wiped my wet hands with a towel, and then went to greet her.  
  
"Yes, Louise, I'm here. Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
She grabbed me by the ear and tugged me outside. "Someone wants to see you," she muttered incoherently.   
  
"Well, as long as I am being tugged by my ear, I won't be able to see a thing!" She let go of my now-red ear.   
  
I looked at my mysterious visitor. Dan? God only knows what he was doing here. Better yet, I asked myself. And why was he smiling??  
  
"Dan, what are you doing here? And how did you find me? And why are you smiling???"   
  
Dan grinned even wider than before. "I found out your name and address by looking in your check information when you paid." He turned bright scarlet. "I wanted to know who you were."   
  
Now I was blushing. I was getting really nervous. he was like a crazy stalker-person! "Thanks for getting me the cranberry juice. I don't think we could live without it."  
  
He laughed. "See you later, Jenny." He turned around and walked away. Too bad I can't have the guy.   
  
The next day, Louise came over again. She came in my bedroom while I picked at a lone wallpapered unicorn, plastered still to the wall. I had the room painted green when I was 10, and it's still like that. I saved one unicorn and a fairy, to remember my old room by. The fairy, on the other side of the room, was peeling off.   
  
"So, who was that guy last night?"  
  
"What????"  
  
"The guy!"  
  
I thought for a moment. "I met him at Wal-Mart. He got me some cranberry juice. That's how we met. End of story."  
  
Louise got off her back and perched on the bed railing. "No," she said. "Not the end of the story. He likes you, Jenny. Give him a chance. He is pretty cute!"   
  
I shook my head. "No, I can't."  
  
`Why not?"  
  
"Because I could get hurt again, like Dad hurt us. Besides, high-school love isn't real. They pretend to like you, and then they stab you in the back by cheating on you. I've seen it before, and I won't let it happen to me. "  
  
Louise smiled. "You're being a chicken."  
  
"No I'm not!"  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"You're in denial."  
  
"No I am not!"  
  
"See?" We both laughed and Louise fell off the bed. That was so funny, we burst into laughter again.   
  
"By the way, Louise, I can't go out with Dan. He's a GUY!!!!! "  
  
And there was even more laughter.  
  
The next morning I woke up about noon. I skipped my CD player to track 6, and danced around my room. I hopped in the shower and washed my hair with fruit shampoo, then painted my fingernails. I was happy. It was the weekend, plus I had a guy who liked me (although I have no intentions whatsoever of returning the favor), and I was going to the mall with Louise today. No one could ruin this perfect day!   
  
I finished my nail painting when the doorbell rang.   
  
"Hold on," I called down the hall from my room. I blew on my nails, and then ran over to the door to see who it was. A guy in a tux stood near the door, holding flowers. And this guy did not look familiar. He was clean-shaven, had nice brown hair, and blue eyes. Who was this guy?  
  
I opened the door cautiously. The man smiled at me, then handed me some roses.   
  
"Are you Jenny Smith?" He asked sincerely. I wasn't sure who this man was, or if I could trust him.  
  
"Who's asking?" I raised my eyebrows at him.  
  
"Well," he said, taking off the derby hat he was wearing, "I am David Smith. Your father."  
  
My jaw dropped open. What would my dad want with me? And what was he doing here???  
  
"Dad, why are you here?" This was the only thing that could ruin my perfect day. And it just about did.  
  
He set his hat on the outside table. "Won't you let me in, Jen?"  
  
"Only when you tell me what's going on here."  
  
"Alright." He sighed. "I got transferred back to Illinois, so I thought I'd say hello. Also, is your mother married again?"  
  
I sat down in my chair. "Uh, not that I know, unless she's had an underground boyfriend for 8 years. Why?"  
  
He took his jacket off, and sat down in the chair beside mine. "I also came back here to see if your mother would remarry me. I have a job, and I work hard. I have changed, Jen. Can't you see that? I want you two back in my life."  
  
Just then, my mother walked through the front door. She gasped, and almost fainted.  
  
"Oh, my god," she murmured under her breath. "Oh my god."  
  
I put on a cheesy, entirely fake smile. "Hi mom," I said. "Did you notice dad was here?  
  
Right then and there she fainted.   
  
"Dad," I whispered.  
  
"What, honey?"  
  
"GET THE ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
When Louise came to pick me up later that afternoon, I told her what had happened.   
  
"Why did he come back after all these years?" She looked really confused.  
  
"I think he wants his life back. He looks better, he isn't drunk, and he actually has a job at a PR company. He seems like he really wants to be with us again. But people can't change like he said they could. They just can't. You can never really change who you are. Its just not possible."  
  
Louise shook her head. "If you really work hard to try and change, maybe, just maybe, you can."  
  
But I still knew that you could never change who you really are. Jobs don't help, haircuts can't work, and reinvention doesn't cut it. He was the same disappointing man on the inside, He changed f to feel better about himself, and I don't disrespect that, at all. Its just, he should have gotten a new family too, instead of bugging the one that he left behind so many years ago.   
  
At the mall, we met up with Dan again. He was at SunCoast, looking at the new music CDs they had just got in. He picked up David Matthews Band and examined it closely. Then he saw Louise and me, put the CD down, and then came over to us.   
  
"Hey, Jenny," He smiled when he said my name. That bothered me, but just a bit. But I smiled too. Then my conscience started saying, "No, Jenny. You have sworn off love, especially to a guy you don't like, and who's stalking you!" I paid attention to it.  
  
"Hey Dan," I said coolly. I grabbed Louise's arm and said, "We still need the leopard lingerie from Victoria's Secret. See you later, Dan." Dan walked off, and the smile faded from his face. At least I wasn't being stalked by some love stricken guy anymore.   
  
"I can't believe you just blew Dan off like that," Louise told me. "He is obviously warm for your form, and you can't even see that. You must be sick in the head, Jenny."  
  
I shook my head. "No," I yelled. "Don't you see? The guy doesn't really like me for anything but my looks. And, if I try to be his girlfriend, the relationship will be ruined, because I tried it and it failed miserably!"  
  
She smiled. "You don't know unless you try! Maybe he'll be the best guy you've ever met!"  
  
"You still don't see, Lulu. It's too hard. I've had my heart broken once by the man you supposedly love most in life, my dad, and I can't let it happen again. I'm just not ready."  
  
We stopped talking until we arrived at the food court. I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut, and Louise got Chinese food. I don't know what it was called. I only speak English!!!  
  
"Dan loves you, Jen. Don't blow this chance to be loved off. It could never happen again."  
  
I just sighed. "I'm going home," I said, dumping my empty plate in the garbage.   
  
As I walked outside, it was starting to snow. And not just any flakes, either. Big, fat, fluffy, miniature balls of snow, floating to the ground like feathers from a pheasant tail. It was magical.   
  
The snowfall was getting heavier and heavier. Almost a foot deep! I trudged to my car, only to realize that Louise was still inside the mall! I plodded back through the snow, tracing my now invisible steps back inside the facility.   
  
I went back to the Food Court. I didn't see Louise in our spot. I had to warn her that the snow was getting too deep to drive through.  
  
Ding Dong. An intercom started binging, like for school's morning announcements.  
  
"Excuse me," A high-pitched voice boomed through the mall's intersection at the fountain. "We are in the middle of a blizzard. Please do not leave the mall; we are locking up as I speak. Call all your contacts to make sure they know you will not be making it home tonight. Use the pay phones if you must. We will sleep in REI, and the blankets and pillows if you want will be provided by Sealy mattresses, and dinner will be at 8:00 pm at the food court. You will not have to pay for anything, unless you want something extra instead of the usual provisions. Thank you, and good night."  
  
I heard Louise scream. "WHAT?" she yelled all the way through the mall. I followed her voice to the Dippin' Dots stand, where a crowd was gathering around her.   
  
"Lulu," I whispered. "Come here, Lulu!"  
  
She turned around when I whispered it again. She walked over to me.   
  
"So, Jen, do you agree with me?" she asked.   
  
"Agree with what?"  
  
She sighed and then moaned. "Agree with me on the matter at hand, dinkus. They can't lock us up when we have our own mode of transportation to get home. We have a right to leave!" The crowd around her started cheering.  
  
I raised my eyebrows. "I guess I do, I was just trying to find you. Come on, let's call our moms."  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Excuse me, did you just say no?"   
  
Louise looked at me as if I had just turned into a ghost.  
  
"Uh, yes?"  
  
She was ready to kick my ass. "I think you should go call your own mom. I am not coming with you. You won't even help my protest. Goodbye." She pointed her nose skyward, and flipped her hair as she turned her back to me.  
  
She whispered something in my ear. "Call mine too, and I'll meet you at out table in the Court at 8:00 sharp."  
  
Chapter Three  
  
At 8 on the button, I met Louise in the Food Court, the table just to the left of the tattoo stand. She patted the seat next to her and gestured for me to sit down.  
  
"What was that all about? I mean, at Dippin' Dots. What was with that?"  
  
"I want to go home. They really have no right to lock us up in this hellhole. I don't want to sleep in a mall. I mean, what if they ring customer service at 3 am? That would suck! And plus, I don't want to sleep on a cold, hard floor!" She sighed, and then groaned.  
  
"Don't you remember? REI is contributing sleeping bags and tents for us to sleep in! You have the brain lifespan of a fly."  
  
Lulu immediately sat up. "Is Dan still here? We can find him and have a little sleepover at Hot Topic! C'mon, lets find him already!" Before I could say no, she dragged me out of our little booth and into the wild world of the mall.   
  
After about fifteen long minutes of searching, we found Dan in Journeys, the shoe store. He was examining some Etnies shoes, so I picked up the pair next to his and pretended to be deeply amassed in the study of the shoe.   
  
"Hey," I said as he was walking out of the store.   
  
He grinned again. I never noticed before that he had dimples, but now I did. Very nice ones, too. Not girly-type dimples, but the kind that look very handsome yet at the same time cute on a guy.   
  
"Hey," he answered back. "So where are you sleeping tonight?" He winked at me. How disgusting. I am swearing off love with him. I will not give in.  
  
I cleared my throat. "Louise and I am sleeping at Hot Topic tonight." Just then, Louise found us chatting. She decided to butt in.  
  
"Hey Dan, you want to spend the night with us?"  
  
Dan knitted his brows. "Only if Jenny doesn't mind." Oh great. Place the pressure onto the three billion pounds of stress already on my head.  
  
"I.I'm not sure.....I guess, if no one else minds." I was afraid they'd push the decision back to me.  
  
"Its your decision, Jen," Louise told me. And I was right.  
  
I gave in. "Fine, he can come, I guess I don't mind that much. It's pretty all right with me-" Louise cut me off.  
  
"We know you're okay. Lets go get our sleeping bags and reserve our spot in the store. If we don't, then we'll be sleeping out near the dumpster!" We all three laughed. Dan grabbed my hand. I pulled it away; I was annoyed that he wasn't getting the hint that I didn't like him. He should know by now that I can't love him; this could hurt us both.  
  
We walked over to Hot Topic. 10 people were already asleep in the store, most of them employees or small children.   
  
"Hold on," Louise told us both. "I'm going to get the sleeping bags and pillows. Dan, do you want plain or down pillows?"  
  
Dan looked over at me. "I don't know, what pillows do you want, Jenny?"  
  
I frowned. "I guess I want down pillows, if there are any left. If not, I'll just have plain ones."  
  
"Okay." Louise shrugged and turned around.  
  
"Wait!" Dan called after her. "I want a down pillow too." He turned to smile at me. I just looked away, and looked at some fishnet stockings on a display table. I didn't want to be stuck with him in a store forever. God help me, this is torture.   
  
Dan looked at me. "The fishnets don't look very comfortable to me." I just shrugged and walked over to the next display. Was he stalking me again? I wondered as I walked to the cash register.  
  
"Excuse me," I asked the clerk.   
  
He grunted, obviously annoyed by me.   
  
"Is there any room for 3 people to sleep?"  
  
He pointed toward the front. Great, now we have to sleep looking at other people sleepwalk through the mall at night. This was just getting better and better.  
  
Dan wandered over to me (again! Doesn't he have a life?) And said," At least we have a view." He chuckled.   
  
I DON'T LIKE YOU! I wanted to yell at him. I can't love someone because they'll only pretend to love me and then hurt me in the end. And I really don't trust Dan with my heart, although he acts ready to take it.   
  
Louise returned a half-hour later with our sleeping stuff.   
  
"I know I'm late, I'm so sorry," she griped to us as she set down the bags at our sleeping area. "There was a 20 minute wait, and the two stores are across the mall from each other. Flop. She popped down on the pile of our down goose pillows. "This wasn't easy," she told us. "You guys owe me big."  
  
I yawned. "I think its time to go to bed. " I was faking it, so I stretched my arms out to make it believable.   
  
Dan nodded. "I think she needs some beauty rest." Lulu and him both laughed like loons. It wasn't really all that funny. He thought he was the best comedian around.   
  
The best way to ruin a relationship with someone is to actually have a relationship with them, I repeated over and over inside my head as it lay down on the pillow. Just keep thinking that. Just keep thinking that.   
  
I woke up the next day to a heavy smell of cinnamon. The CinnaBon was baking up a storm of rolls. I fumbled out of my sleeping bag, only to find that Louise and Dan had already ordered my rolls. They were both staring at me, and they were holding their own rolls.  
  
"Your roll is on the tray next to you," Louise pointed over my shoulder to the tray, her mouth full of cinnamon goodness.   
  
Dan just bobbed his head to the punk-rock music blaring inside Hot Topic. He was a mental case just waiting to happen. I rolled my eyes at him, and sunk my teeth into a roll. Mmmmm. That was yummy.   
  
We finished our breakfast, and dumped the tray off at the Food Court Kitchen.   
  
Ding Dong. An intercom was binging again.  
  
"Excuse me, Mall shoppers," A lady's high-pitched voice screeched over the speakers. "The mall has been reopened, because the blizzard has ended. Remember, drive safely and go slow over ice. Thank you."  
  
Louise punched the air with her fists. "YES! Thank god! Lets go home, Jen." She grabbed my arm. Dan waved goodbye, and headed to the parking lot on the other side of the mall. I presumed that's where he parked. Good, now he's not stalking me anymore.  
  
"Come on Jen, move faster, we need to get out before the traffic gets heavy." Louise was always in a hurry. But she didn't used to be that way. When I met her when we were 10, she was always slow and lazy, just like a slug. But she joined the track team two years ago, and now she's Speedy Gonzales.   
  
We reached my Ford Taurus, buried in snow. I told Louise, "Unlock the door, and get the ice scraper from the back row." I started whisking the snow off the hood and the windshield by moving my hands to force it off. Louise got the ice scraper and started scraping the ice from the windshield. We worked at it for a full five minutes, me warming up the car while Louise worked to get the ice off. She hopped in shotgun and I turned on the windshield wipers. It was warm inside the car, so we took our gloves off, started up the car, and headed for the highway.  
  
When I got home, Louise hugged me and left for her house right next to mine. I walked in the door, and found my mom and dad making out on the couch.  
  
"Oh my God!" I screamed when I saw them. "What are you two doing?" My eyes widened. "I can't believe you guys did this while I was stranded in a city mall for almost 24 hours!" I pointed at Dad. "You should leave now, Dad. Mom and I were just plain peachy until you came yesterday!!!" I dropped my bags and ran up the stairs, and slammed the door to my bedroom. It used to be a prized possession. Now it's my haven.   
  
Chapter Four  
  
I sat on my bed and grabbed Mr. Fluffums, my stuffed bunny. I'd had Mr. Fluffums since I was born, and he'd help me cope with everything that was wrong. My first F in school, my most embarrassing moment with my crush, when Dan started stalking me. Mr. Fluffums had always been there for me. Now I needed his help more than ever. This was the worst thing that ever happened to me.   
  
I huddled and rocked back and forth on my bed, squeezing Mr. Fluffums tight. I started to cry. A tear rolled down my cheek. I grabbed my silk journal leaning at a slight angle next to my bed.   
  
Dear Diary, these past two days have been the worst. This guy named Dan started stalking me, first of all. I can't love a guy; I mean look what Dad did to us! I won't love him, even though I think he likes me. Also, Dad came back! He just busted in on my life when things were at their happiest. I caught Mom making out with him on the couch when I walked in, from being stranded at the mall. Did I mention that? There was a blizzard last night, so the mall manager locked us in for a whole night! This so totally sucks! I wish I could make it right again! Luv, Jenny  
  
I put my feather pen down and sat the diary back against the bed. I looked out the window. As my gaze was falling off into unconsciousness, I stood up to sit in the window. As I got up, I saw Dan walking by my house. He had changed his clothes. And yet he walked right past my house, as if he forgot I lived there. He stopped and backtracked a few feet, where he saw me crying. At the time I didn't see him. He picked up a pebble from the road and aimed it at my window. CLUNK! The pebble hit the glass right where my face was leaning on the other side.   
  
I looked up from my locked gaze and opened the latch on my window.   
  
"Jenny! Jenny! Are you there, Jen?" Dan couldn't stop yelling my name. He threw another rock, and it punctured the outside part of the window a little bit.   
  
The window slid open and I said quietly, "I'll be down in a second, Dan." I ran out of my room, down the stairs, and through the kitchen. Mom stopped me in my tracks.   
  
"Honey, your father and I need to talk to you. Its about our, um, behavior." She did the quotation mark sign with her fingers on the last word.   
  
"Sorry mom, I can't talk. I have to go-" She stopped my words in their tracks.  
  
"NOW." Her voice was firm and a little annoyed.  
  
"Alright mom. But can I go outside for just 2 minutes? I have something to do."  
  
My mom frowned at me. "What is so important that you're postponing a talk with your parents to go and see or do?" She uses really big words.  
  
"I have to talk to, um, uh, Louise for a second."  
  
Mom rested her hands on her hips. "About what?" This was really taking a long time! You know how mothers are.  
  
"Its girl stuff, mom! We have to talk about boys for a minute. So leave me alone, okay?" And with those last words I marched out the door and over around the side of the house to meet Dan.   
  
"What too you so long?" Dan asked as I walked around the rosebush, making sure I didn't get pricked. He smiled as soon as he saw me. I kept thinking in my head, why do I like this guy? I can't love him, its not right!  
  
Hey Dan," I said. I smiled to make the greeting seem awfully genuine. Inside, I was thinking, you're going to rot in hell, you scummy brat.   
  
He was totally buying the whole I-like-you vibe. I should try this more often!   
  
"Jen," he said, his eyes bright and perky-looking, "I don't know. Do you want to see more of me, or am I just getting in the way of you? I can't tell for myself, quite honestly."  
  
I looked up with the last sentence. "What?"  
  
"I told you," he went on. "I think that you don't like me, and that you also think I'm annoying. So I should really leave right now, because that's what you'd like. "  
  
"No," I whispered. "You don't understand this, Dan."  
  
"Understand what? That you hate me? Is that what I don't understand?"  
  
I took a deep breath. "I don't want to be hurt. My dad walked out on us when I was about eight, and I have had trouble with liking guys since that happened. I just don't want to be hurt." A tear threatened to get out of my eye. And so it did. I wiped it away with my hand.   
  
Dan didn't say anything. He just pulled me closer. But then he started to talk again.  
  
"I would never hurt you, Jen." And with that he pulled me even closer and kissed me. It was for a LONG time. Then he stopped and stroked my cheek with his hand. "I love you," he said quietly.  
  
I shook my head. "I have to go, Dan. See you later." And I ran back over to the front of my house and went inside.   
  
Mom was standing at the counter, tapping her shoe at me. "We've been waiting," she said to me.  
  
"What do you want to talk about, Mom?"  
  
She beckoned for me to come forward, and she unexpectedly hugged me. This felt nice. I wondered what she wanted. Most likely to talk about her and Dad.  
  
"Anyways, honey," my mom stepped away from my hug, "We need to talk about our behavior."  
  
Dad just nodded and hummed the theme song to "Beverly Hillbillies." He can be so embarrassing, even when it's just us three in the house. He reached the last note, and my mother started talking again.   
  
"Honey, its just we haven't seen each other for almost 8 years. You were eight when he left." She tousled my hair. I batted her hand away. She went on with her dumb speech.  
  
"We love each other. Now your father has changed. He promised me last night, after all the commotion that he wouldn't leave us again. He just left the last time because he needed a change of scenery. And eight years is a nice distance of time between us." I sighed heavily.  
  
"Are you finished?" I asked my mom. She nodded, and I left to go back to my bedroom.   
  
I looked back out the window and saw that Dan was pacing back in forth in my yard. It looked like he was blaming himself for something he did. I wanted to tell him this wasn't his fault at all, but it was mine. But he probably wouldn't understand, just like everything else. He was just going to do something stupid with whatever we had and hurt me some more. I wasn't ready for that!  
  
I glared at him and closed the blinds on my window. Then I threw myself on my bed and cried until I drifted off to sleep.   
  
Louise came over later that night for Family Movie Night. I always invited her over for Family Movie Night, so even if She didn't get an invite, she would come over. She found me in my room, sleeping peacefully on my bed.   
  
She tapped my head. "JENNY! Wake up!" This wasn't exactly a pleasant awakening.   
  
"Krllgoffg." I tried to shoo her away, so I waved a hand in the air. She backed away (out of the little sight I had in the half-opened left eye) and tapped my head again as soon as I set my hand down on the bed. She was annoying me.  
  
She walked over and sat on the chair next to my bed. She just stared at me, as if she were giving me the Stink Eye. This was incredibly annoying. I threw a pillow at her, and she screeched like a chimpanzee.   
  
"Louise, there is no movie tonight. The family isn't even there. Mom's out with Dad tonight." I had forgotten about Dad. He was out with Mom, and I didn't want to trust him with my mom's fragile heart. I frowned grimly when I remembered about him. This sucks, I though to myself.   
  
"Fine." Louise left the room, and I heard her footsteps pound down the stairs, and then I heard the door slam. She was gone. Good, no more distractions. Now I needed time to think.   
  
I grabbed Mr. Fluffums and squeezed him extra tight. I was going to give him death out of squeezing if I had to. Why did Dan kiss me? Wasn't he listening to my little speech about the fact I couldn't love him or I'd end up getting hurt? He was such a bonehead. I flopped back down on my pillow.  
  
RING!!!!! The telephone rang.   
  
"Hello?" I said into the receiver. I could hear shouting and crashing noises in the background.  
  
"Hey, Jenny?" Dan's voice filled the phone. My legs turned into jelly when he said my name.   
  
"Yes, Dan?" He sounded just a little worried. Okay, he sounded a lot worried. But I didn't know how to help him unless he told me how.   
  
"Can I stay the night at your house? My parents are kind of having a fight."  
  
"I can tell."  
  
"So can I?" I pondered the question a bit. To stay, or not to stay? That was the question.   
  
"Yeah, I guess. But you'll have to sleep on the couch downstairs. Do you have a problem with that?"  
  
"No," Dan replied. "I actually sleep on couches a lot, especially if you count naps," he told me.   
  
"Alright. Come over here at 9, and I'll have the couch ready for Dan.. what's your last name?"  
  
He paused. "McEllewood."  
  
"Is that so? Well, see you at 9."  
  
`Yeah," he sighed a little bit. "See ya."  
  
And we hung up.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
I put the phone down on its charger and headed downstairs. Our stairwell is decorated with photos of my mother and me when we were traveling around two years ago. Us at Sea World Orlando, standing in front of the Space Needle in Seattle, and perched near Niagara Falls. In every picture, we had the same goofy grin, the same shirts saying, "We brake for Animals," and identical haircuts, cut into a shoulder-length bob. Now that we were growing apart, I saw no reason to remind us of how we used to be. It makes my heart ache and yearn for the old times hen we were happy. When we did stuff together, because no boys were in our life to help mess it up. I want to take it all back.   
  
I put an afghan over the cushions of the couch and tucked it in under the big pillows at either end. I pushed the coffee table a foot away from its original spot. Mom and Dad were going to be out until tomorrow morning at 8, so I wasn't going to be in any trouble at all.  
  
Dan McEllewood rang the doorbell at 8:07 p.m., and he brought snacks.  
  
"Cheetos, fritos, doritos, basically you got the whole -eetos thing going on here." He smiled and sat them down on the kitchen counter. "Take your pick."  
  
I hesitated but grabbed the bag of crunchy cheetos. My favorite.  
  
They were Dad's favorite too. But when Dad had left us, she stopped buying them. I never ate them, except in the school cafeteria, where I was safe from the watchful eyes of my mother.   
  
Dan must have saw me staring into outer space, because his gaze was lowered to meet mine. Slowly, thouhg, he lifted his back up and fixated it on the couch.   
  
"I'm sleeping on the couch, right?" His eyes were playing with mine again, so I averted my glances.   
  
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"  
  
He shook his head violently. "No...Where do you sleep?"  
  
"Upstairs," I pointed towards the ceiling. "In my bedroom. You know, where I live."  
  
He laughed. He had a really cute laugh. You know how guys laugh when they're genuinely happy? Thats how he is always laughing... and smiling...and...  
  
But then it hit me. I am falling in love. I am falling in love! This can't be. I started mumbling stuff to myself.   
  
"Whats wrong?" Dan asked me nicely.  
  
"Nothing....." He unexpectedly grabbed my hand. It was warm and it felt so nice to me. He started staring right into my eyes. His eyes were a deep blue, so deep you could drown in them. They were beautiful to me. He smiled again and his teeth showed. I am starting to love that cute grin.   
  
He bent his head down a bit and his lips met mine after two seconds of thought. I felt great kissing him, because I knew I really loved him, and that was a good thing. After a little while of kissing, he stopped to tell me, "I love you, Jenny. Nothing can ever hurt you when I'm around." Oh well, he didn't know about my dad too well. He wouldn't care too much about that sort of thing anyways. He'd want to talk about music or something else instead.  
  
After our (wonderful) kissing session, we both sat on the couch. Since it felt like -40 degrees out, I was shivering like mad, even under a blanket. So Dan sat down next to me and I cuddled up near him. And the last thing I thought that night was how great it felt to be with the person you love.  
  
"JENNY SMITH!!!!!! WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???" I woke up groggily that morning with my mother's cranky, pissed-off voice screaming in my ear. And then I realized I was on the couch. Sleeping with Dan. Not really sleeping with him, though. I just fell asleep in his lap. Oh, that came out sort of wrong too. This is gonna be mad.  
  
"You had better have an explanation now, Jenny," my dad huffed. Funny, he hasn't been my father for eight years, and now he's telling me when I should sleep with people. Great. Just great. But let me sleep a little while longer before you just walk in in the middle of the night to point out the errors of my ways.  
  
But it wasn't the middle of the night. No, it was 9:30. Mom and Dad, I guess, had just gotten back from their date. Oh well, I think maybe they slept together too, but then again they're adults and can do anything they want. But I think I should be treated like an adult, too. I have my drivers license, for lord's sake! I was 16! But then again, I didn't sleep with him in the bad sense, I had just fallen asleep on the couch in his lap. That was all! I don't think mom and dad knew it though.  
  
"Oh my god, David, our little girl could be pregnant!" My mom looked like she was about ready to cry. Dan had just woken up and he saw my mom start bawling.  
  
"I think I better be going to my job now." He slinked away behind the couch. And dad seriously let him just get away with it. Just like that. It was like this was no big dela, but at the same time very big. Mom was bawling, Dad was screaming, and me and Dan were just kind of quiet. It was like a horror movie I couldn't leave. And it sucked.  
  
Dan grabbed his coat and left out the door, my dad watching him like a hawk. He turned his stare over to me and had a look od total disappointment in his eyes. I felt kind of sorry for letting me put my parents through this huge thing that wasn't really very huge.  
  
"Mom, I am not pregnant, nor will I be until I at least move out. And this was a huge mistake on my part. I invited Dan over because his parents were fighting and he needed to be somewhere else. So he came over, we both fell asleep on the couch. Thats it!" I was very cranky now, because I was both tired and mad at my parents for not believing me.  
  
So they didn't. Mom stopped sobbing long enough to say, "You are never to see this young man again! He isn't good for you, coming over at night to sleep with you!" She started to gulp for air and walked upstairs to her room.  
  
"It was an-" My dad cut me off.  
  
"No honey, it wasn't. You invited him over without thinking, and you must pay the price. You can't date Dan. End of story." He walked out the door, turned the motor in his Chevy pickup on, and pulled out of the driveway.   
  
That was it. In one night, I had been kissed twice, been told that I was loved, had mixed feelings for someone, and basically spelled out doom for myself the second I fell asleep. Jenny Smith was now officially confused. And because I was confused, there was no way I was going to know what was going on here. But somehow, I did.  
  
I thought I didn't love him, that I couldn't love Dan because I knew he'd betray me. But now that I never could see him again, a lump rose in my throat and tears stung my eyes, threatening to leak out. I did love him, and I did want to be his girlfriend. We loved each other.  
  
Louise knocked on my door exactly 7 hours later. I opened it up and she saw my eyes, puffy from trying not to cry. It had been like this all day.  
  
"What happened? You look like a train wreck, Jenny. Tell me whats wrong." She went into the bathroom and grabbed a box of tissues. I knew I was going to have to tell her. She gets mean when you don't tell her something she "needs" to know. So I spilled the beans.  
  
She listened the entire time, and never sopped me once. Had Louise changed over one night? It was highly likely, since usually she never shut up. I was seeing a side of her I never knew before, but I was starting to like it. It wasn't mouthy or obnoxious. I could get used to this.  
  
When I was done, she started blabbing a bit again.  
  
"Oh my god, this is like Romeo and Juliet! Two star-crossed lovers brought together by fate-or in your case, cranberry juice- and end up in a tragic love triangle."  
  
I threw a pillow that had been behind me at her, and she ducked. It missed and hit a lamp. Glass shards flew everywhere. One came and poked my wrist. Blood oozed out of it instantly. That wasn't smart. Now I was bleeding profusely. I got a paper towel to cover the affected area, but it was soaked in minutes.  
  
I held a cloth napkin over the open wound, applying as much pressure as I could to it. Maybe it would work better than the paper towel. This really wasn't my idea of today. Mom and Dad were out again, too. What was I to do? And no offense to her, but Louise isn't much smarter than a block of wood. Well, maybe she is, but you just can't tell underneath all of that stupidity.  
  
Louise was actually a big help, once she knew that this was a potentially dangerous scene. She saw the bleeding hadn't stopped, so she called 911 for an ambulance.   
  
"I don't need an ambulance. Its just a tiny cut," I said, but I perfectly knew it was a lie.  
  
"You're turning pale from blood loss," she replied in a low voice. She really shouldn't have taken Health and Safety last quarter.   
  
She dialed the phone again after getting the ambulance. We had to notify Mom and Dad, I guess.  
  
"Hello, Dan?" She cut her eyes at me and then darted them to the floor, as if feeling guilty that she had done this. "Can you meet me and Jenny at her house? No questions asked, it's an emergency."  
  
I growled at Louise. She knew I was supposed to stay away from him now. She can be so dim.  
  
I grabbed the phone from her hand and dialed Mom's cell phone number. She picked up after two rings.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Mom, this is an emergency."  
  
"What?" I could sense the alrm in her voice. I heard Dad in the background, cooing something so she'd hopefully be quieter. I felt sorry for her now, she being a mother who spent many years without a father by her side, helping her to parent a little kid.  
  
"Just meet us in the emergency room, I have no time to explain. We need as much time as possible, ok?"  
  
"Ok honey, see you in about 20 minutes." She hung up the phone and I heard a little click.  
  
  
  
The ambulance arrived about a minute after I had hung up with Mom. The people rushed me into those little rolling beds, and I was loaded into the ambulance. Louise came with me. And sitting across from me and next to her was Dan. He had a guitar in his hand. It was the one I gave Louise when I had barely known her. I didn't recognize it, it was so shiny and beautiful. The old one lacked luster and needed a paint job. This one was shiiny and seemed perfectly new. I wonder if she gave it to Dan so he could fix it and play it for me.   
  
I was right. He strummed the strings and started playing a song. I was fading in and out of consciousness. A paramedic rebandaged my wrist.   
  
I recognized the tune. It soflty flowed, from one chord to the next. He was playing my song. Wherever You Are.  
  
He started to sing. I was almost unconscious but I could still hear his sweet voice, lulling in my ears.   
  
"I wish you were here, to take me wherever you are today." He got done singing. I smiled, dazed and confused. I was so...  
  
I woke up about 2 hours later in a hospital bed. I was wearing 2 nightgowns. Apparently, someone cared enough to know that I hate people seeing my butt.   
  
Dan and Louise were sitting in the chairs near the bed. Louise was snoring with her head on the armrest, but Dan was fidgeting with his fingers until he realized that I was awake.   
  
He came over and kissed my head. I was too tired to lift it back up, so I laid it at an angle on the pillow. My parents were in the hallway. I knew because I could hear my mother crying and asking, "Is she o.k.?" every two minutes. I turned to look at my hand. My wrist was.....  
  
Gross. The bandages covering it were all bloody. I could barely see my hand. Dan played another song on the guitar as I studied my hand carefully. The song was incomprehensible, so I figured that I didn't write it.  
  
The tune was so beautiful. It sounded like something out of a fairy tale. The music was so pretty, I had to know what it was.  
  
"What is that?" I asked, my voice weak and hoarse. I knew I sounded like a 2 year old with a cold, but still, he smiled in my direction and replied.  
  
"Its a tune I just made up," he said. "I think its cool, don't you?" I grinned like a loon in a loony bin.  
  
"Yep. It's so pretty though! I was wondering if there were words to it." He looked down at the floor and crossed his ankles. His skate shoes peeked out from under his jeans.  
  
"Yeah, there are. It's a better rendition of your song." I sat there for a minute. Better? Nobody tells me that I could have done better. This wasn't good. I was going to hurt him, if my wrist magically healed. That would probably not be soon, though.   
  
But I still thought, better? It's not better! Sure, mine was slower and had a less perky beat, but mine came from the heart. Mr. Dan McEllewood was plagiarizing my song. But I didn't have a copyright, so there you go. But my version, the original one, was way better.  
  
"No offense, Dan, but its not a better version." I sat up in the hospital bed. My wrist moved and I let out a small yelp of pain.  
  
"And don't you go telling me it is. Mine comes from the heart. Yours is just....not better, ok? If you think its better, go out and parade it to the whole world, for all I care! But you will never be able to write songs as good as me!"  
  
He frowned and looked away, his eyes filled with hurt. He wasn't too pleased with me now. In fact, he looked kind of sad. I half expected him to cry when he stood up.  
  
"I just wanted you to be happy," he spoke solemnly. "I guess not. Good-bye, Jenny Smith." He slung the guitar over his shoulder and left quietly through the door. The door closed softly behind him.  
  
I cried into my sleep that night. I knew I didn't like him at first, but as time progressed, I started to like, possibly even love him. 


End file.
